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stuzbot
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Joined: March 30, 2018
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Location: Pining for the Puddles of Yesterday
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 Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:31 am Post subject: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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OK folks. I apologise in advance that this post is going to be pretty vague. I did try and capture the sound on my phone but, as I was trying to work it while driving in heavy traffic, I somehow contrived to miss the damned thing.
Background Info: As regular readers will know I rebuilt my front brakes a few weeks back and my van also suffers intermittently from upper control arm bushing squeak, which I keep on top of with silicone grease, until such time as I can get round to replacing the bushings.
OK. On with the show...
Last week I was rolling very slowly into a carpark when I heard a squeaking noise. For lack of a recording so far, I'd describe it as like the sound of a shopping trolley or a wheelbarrow with a squeaky wheel. Sort of repeated; Eek!.. Eek!.. Eek!..
Not too loud and [given I was rolling very slowly] not very alarming. It started all of a sudden, lasted the few seconds while I rolled into my parking spot and was gone when I later drove home again. So I didn't really think much of it.
Fast forward to this morning when I'm giving the missus a lift to work, which involves a short section on the motorway.
After we'd been driving for about ten mins [at around 50mph due to heavy traffic] the noise suddenly started again. It seemed a bit louder than the previous time, lasted for maybe about 30 seconds and then stopped.
Dropped the missus at her work and set off home again and the same thing happened, after a few minutes on the motorway. Again it seemed louder than the last time [certainly loud enough to make me think it was worth checking out] and seemed to last a bit longer too –maybe a minute this time.
As before, the noise stopped again and I carried on as normal. I've not got out and under the van yet. That might have to wait for the weekend, but thoughts and musings so far:
1: Doesn't seem dependent on speed. It's happened once at barely rolling along and twice at around 50mph.
2: When it happens, it doesn't seem to affect the handling of the van at all; no pulling to the side, no juddering, clutch, steering and brakes seemed to work fine.
3: When I got home today [about another 15 mins after the motorway occurrence] I got out and felt all four wheels. Both rear wheels drums were cold. Both fronts calipers were warm to the touch but not enough to seem untoward in any way. And both felt about the same temp.
4: Doesn't seem to be related to the upper control arm bushing as that's more a deeper creaky sound like a rusty bedspring and, besides, the suspension was behaving itself today.
5: Could possibly be brake related after the rebuild of a couple of weeks back. But odd that it would suddenly start happening and only intermittently. Also occurred both times when driving, not braking.
6: Clutch related? Gear changing seems unaffected. When it was happening the second time this morning, I slowed down and changed into 3rd. The squeak didn't change when I pressed the clutch pedal, nor did it change when I dropped to 3rd gear. [and as per the first incident at the carpark, it's previously happened when rolling in first]
7: Wheel bearing? I'd have expected a wheel bearing on its way out to make constant noise, not just do it for 30-60 seconds and then stop. I'd also have expected the affected wheel to feel a lot hotter than the others [albeit there was about 15 mins 'cool down' driving after the last incident].
Well, Like I said, that's all a bit vague and I'll try and get a proper recording if and when it happens next. And I'll give the brakes a look over and check for wheel bearing play, when I get to look at it at the weekend. But, meantime, I just wondered if anyone recognises those symptoms, or if there's anything else to add to the checklist that I might have missed?
Oh. And, as well as being one of those annoyingly intermittent things that doesn't seem to happen to any kind of pattern, I also found it impossible to pin down where the noise was coming from. It seemed to be towards the front of the van but, leaning from side to side and listening, I couldn't say it seemed to be coming more from one side than the other.
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 19072
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 9:19 am Post subject: Re: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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| Hub caps? They can squeak. Speedo cable is dragging possibly. Both are fairly easy to isolate. |
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Steve M.
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Joined: July 30, 2013
Posts: 6933
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
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| Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:18 am Post subject: Re: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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Feed your Mouse! 
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stuzbot
Samba Member
Joined: March 30, 2018
Posts: 377
Location: Pining for the Puddles of Yesterday
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| Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:43 am Post subject: Re: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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| MarkWard wrote: |
| Hub caps? They can squeak. Speedo cable is dragging possibly. Both are fairly easy to isolate. |
Hub caps eh? I would never have thought of that.
Given it's coming from the front of the van and I've recently rebuilt the front brakes with new calipers and pistons, I'm coming round to thinking the answer probably lies in that region somewhere –although I still think it's odd that it's just started, after several 100 miles on the new brakes.
I've also been doing a bit of reading up and it appears that wheel bearing noise is usually more 'gravelly' and 'grindy' sounding. So, if that's correct, then hopefully that's not where the problem lies.
| Steve M. wrote: |
| Feed your Mouse! :D |
The way owning one of these vans haemorrhages money, I'm lucky to be able to feed myself.
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randolph57
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Joined: January 03, 2014
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Location: plymouth,uk
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| Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 3:59 am Post subject: Re: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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when was the last time you checked rear brake shoes?
I had same squeaking sound and it ended up being the rear shoe centering pin/spring/washer .The pin had corroded and deposited cap and spring inside hub and causing the audible EEK EEK sound as parts became bound up intermittently in rotating drum. |
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stuzbot
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Joined: March 30, 2018
Posts: 377
Location: Pining for the Puddles of Yesterday
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| Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:06 am Post subject: Re: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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Probably about a year since I checked the rears and gave them a good dust out. They looked OK at the time. But then again, so did the fronts, until one of the discs sheared clean off, the other week.
The noise does sound more like it's coming from the front of the van than the back. But these things can be deceptive, while you're driving along. I'm going to check all four corners anyway.
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djkeev
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Joined: September 30, 2007
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stuzbot
Samba Member
Joined: March 30, 2018
Posts: 377
Location: Pining for the Puddles of Yesterday
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| Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 7:28 am Post subject: Re: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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| djkeev wrote: |
Does the squeak become slower or faster with speed?
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Now that's a good point. No, I didn't notice it speed up or slow down. But then, I was on the motorway, so was doing a pretty constant speed. I'm, trying to remember if the sound was slower when I noticed it rolling into the carpark the week before. I can't remember for sure. I'll need to try different speeds next time it happens --assuming I'm on a normal road where I can slow down a fair bit.
| djkeev wrote: |
What springs to mind is that it is no longer Summer.
The mornings are now chilly and we've turned on the heater...... |
Well, that one's easy to rule out. Before the summer, I disconnected the cable from the hot-cold lever on my heater vent because it was slightly too short so even pushed fully to the cold end, there was always slightly warn air coming through. I've not reconnected it yet and not used the fan either.
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1992 VW T3 1,6TD Syncro [SOLD]
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onslowb
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Joined: November 20, 2006
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Location: Woodland Hills
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2019 11:17 pm Post subject: Re: Intermittent Squeaking Sound |
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I may have the same thing happening. Intermittent noise from front end that sounds sort of like a high pitched electric motor, not very loud but clearly noticeable. Will start randomly after driving a bit and then stop. Sometimes starts again but 95% of the time is quiet. My noise changes with the vehicle speed and continues when out of gear. I'll post if I figure it out. Mine did start when the weather turned colder and wetter.
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